‘Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan’ protests to continue in several cities

On Friday morning (December 17), Kurdish activists from the German cities of Düsseldorf, Cologne, Bielefeld, Dortmund took over the protest action carried out in Strasbourg under the motto “Freedom Shall Prevail; Take Action for Abdullah Öcalan”.

While the new group of activists announced taking over the action on its last day, numerous people from South Germany and Basel, Switzerland came to support the action.

Şevin Sincar and Naif Alkış made speeches on behalf of FED-MED Germany and YJK-E. The activists called for the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and European institutions to review their approach to the case of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, stressing that their protests would continue without interruption.

In a speech, Yuksel Koç, co-chairman of the European Democratic Kurdish Societies Congress (KCDK-E) said that the Kurds would carry out large-scale actions in multiple cities in the coming days as part of the “Freedom Shall Prevail; Take Action for Abdullah Öcalan” actions.

Koç stated that the vigil in Strasbourg has been concluded and the second phase of the “Freedom Shall Prevail” actions will be accompanied by several actions and activities which -he added- will continue without interruption until Öcalan is free.

The KCDK-E co-chair raised concern over the unprecedented level of lawlessness and inhumane practices of the Turkish state, including the isolation of Öcalan and Turkish invasion attacks in South Kurdistan.

The Kurdish politician stated that the European Council’s recent decision on Öcalan’s case was positive after a years-long struggle.

“However, it is a belated decision, and we will increase our resistance to enforce it. After all, the resistance of Öcalan and our people has led the colonialist Turkish state into a great crisis and political impasse,” he added.